News & Perspective

Editor's note: This is the first in a seven-part series investigating the prospects for development of vaccines to head off the threat of an influenza pandemic posed by the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The series puts advances in vaccine technology in perspective by illuminating the formidable barriers to producing an effective and widely usable vaccine in a short time frame.

Maryn McKennaContributing Writer

(CIDRAP News) – This in-depth article investigates the prospects for development of vaccines to head off the threat of an influenza pandemic posed by the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Its seven parts put advances in vaccine technology in perspective by illuminating the formidable barriers to producing an effective and widely usable vaccine in a short time frame.

(CIDRAP News) – Vice President Joe Biden today told Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" show that he has advised his family not to fly on airlines or ride subways to avoid exposure to the swine flu virus, a message that goes well beyond the government's current travel advice for Americans to avoid nonessential trips to Mexico.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signaled today that it will change its current recommendation—which is to close schools for at least 2 weeks when a confirmed case of novel H1N1 swine flu is found among students—as health officials in the Seattle area and Minnesota scaled back their guidance to reflect more of a seasonal influenza approach.

(CIDRAP News) – With the global outbreak of novel H1N1 influenza (swine flu) entering its fourth week, physicians at emergency rooms, clinics, and hospitals around the United States say they are overwhelmed with "worried well" who have as much as doubled their patient loads.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to release clinical guidance that will say most patients sick with the novel H1N1 influenza (swine flu) will not need antiviral treatment, but the drugs should be considered for high-risk groups, a WHO official said today.

Editor's Note: CIDRAP's Promising Practices: Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Tools (www.publichealthpractices.org) online database showcases peer-reviewed practices, including useful tools to help others with their planning. This article is one of a series exploring the development of these practices. We hope that describing the process and context of these practices enhances pandemic planning.

(CIDRAP News) – Though infectious disease experts say it is impossible to predict how severe the next wave of the novel H1N1 pandemic will be, experts from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) observe that it so far resembles the 1957-58 influenza pandemic in several ways. They report that the earlier pandemic caused minimal disruptions, in part because public health officials didn't close schools, cancel public events, or impose travel restrictions.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials recommended today that schools should not close down during novel H1N1 influenza outbreaks, though they emphasized that the advice is a guideline and that decisions should be made based on local conditions.